Archive for the ‘Press Release’ Category

PROVO, UT, May 14, 2008 — FamilyLink.com, Inc has teamed with FamilySearch to improve the user experience of the Family History Library Catalog for millions of people worldwide by adding new Web 2.0 functionality and enhancements. The improvements will also enable users to spend research time more efficiently by directing them to the information that will generate the quickest results.

FamilyLink.com’s improvements to the catalog will make it searchable by major online search engines and allow users to annotate item descriptions–increasing their accuracy and enriching the content.

FamilySearch’s Family History Library Catalog is used extensively by family history enthusiasts. It is a window to the vast collection of genealogical resources amassed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over the past 100 years–millions of microfilms, fiche, and books from 110+ countries throughout the world.

Genealogists use the popular online catalog to see if FamilySearch has any material that can help them in their research. Materials are then ordered on an interlibrary loan one FamilySearch’s 4,500 local family history centers worldwide.

“The enhancements FamilyLink.com will help make to the Family History Library Catalog will increase its usability and exposure. Beginners will find it particularly easier to navigate, and searching and browsing will be more rewarding,” said Paul Nauta, Manager of Public Affairs, FamilySearch.

Improved Searching

In a typical search of the Family History Library Catalog, users first identify known facts about a family and then go through a step-by-step process to locate records. Newly integrated FamilyLink.com tools will help users better identify information. Guided searches will help users decide what they want to learn about their families, point them to relevant records, help obtain and search the records, provide clues to more information, and assist with the application of the new information.

As part of the enhancement, FamilyLink.com will make searches more useful by allowing the user to browse, sort (by popularity, relevance, most used, etc.), and perform multiple searches. A new “probability engine” feature will calculate the likelihood that a particular source contains the desired item. It will also be able to search across someone’s entire family tree to determine which ancestry lines have the highest likelihood of success based on known sources.

“We are excited to work with FamilySearch and to add this extensive catalog to our database collections,” said Paul Allen, CEO, FamilyLink.com, Inc. “We have looked at doing this collaboration for quite a while. We will enhance the catalog by connecting it with new innovative tools, along with the best resources of our WorldVitalRecords.com databases, the FamilyLink.com social networking site, and our We’re Related application in Facebook. Putting all of these resources together will dramatically change the meaning of ’search’ in genealogy.”

Social Networking

Another enhancement to the Family History Library Catalog will be its increased interactivity. Every entry in the catalog will link to an online or digital source, if available. The user will then be able to link directly to the publisher, buy the book, or search for the nearest copy.

FamilyLink.com will also add an annotation feature that allows users to suggest a new source, enhance an existing source by adding a place (location) or a time period, and rate and review a source based on its usefulness.

“We know that search traffic will increase on both the FamilyLink services and FamilySearch’s site when users discover the new guided search tools,” said FamilyLink.com President David Lifferth. “Last month we had over 700,000 unique visitors and 8.5 million page views. We are predicting that these numbers will more than double after the first quarter of use.”

About FamilySearchFamilySearch is a nonprofit organization that maintains the world’s largest repository of genealogical resources. Patrons may access resources online at FamilySearch.org or through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries. FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. and is registered in the United States of America and other countries.

About WorldVitalRecords.comFounded in 2006 by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, WorldVitalRecords.com, Inc. provides affordable access to genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 600,000 monthly visitors. The site registers 9.4 million monthly pages views and has more than 30,000 subscribers. With thousands of databases–including birth, death, military, census, and parish records–WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to fill in missing information in your family tree. Some of its partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, Archive CD Books Australia, Gould Genealogy, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Genealogical Publishing Company, Find My Past, Godfrey Memorial Library, Find A Grave, and FamilySearch. Investors include vSpring Capital and several angel investors.

FamilyLink.com, Inc./WorldVitalRecords.com will be hosting a press conference tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. (Wednesday, May 14) at the National Genealogical Society Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. The event will be held in the Fremont Room located on the Mezzanine Level of the Hyatt Regency Crown Center for those who would like to attend.

PROVO, UT, May 13, 2008 — FamilySearch recently announced an inaugural project in concert with FamilyLink.com, Inc., to digitize and index a valuable German genealogy collection containing over 3.5 million names from the period of 1650-1875.

The Brenner Collection contains 3.5 million names on more than 750 rolls of microfilm, representing between 900,000 and 1.5 million images. A final count will be determined once all of the records have been indexed. The complete Brenner Collection database is scheduled to be online at WorldVitalRecords.com by the end of this year, although segments of the database will be launched in the interim.

“The genealogy market for German records is hungry for online data. FamilyLink.com was selected for this project because of the company’s focus on international vital record sets,” said Paul Nauta, Manager of Public Affairs, FamilySearch.

The FamilySearch Records Access Program (RAP), announced in 2007, works with record custodians and companies to preserve and publish the world’s genealogical records faster, more effectively, and efficiently. Under the RAP agreement for the Brenner Collection, FamilySearch will digitize the records, and FamilyLink.com will create the indexes. When completed, the index will be available for free at FamilySearch.org and WorldVitalRecords.com. Access to the images will be free to FamilySearch members and WorldVitalRecords.com subscribers.

“This is our first project with FamilySearch, and we are excited to collaborate with them,” said Jonathan Burton, COO, FamilyLink.com, Inc. “This database will be an invaluable part of our growing German collection. Certainly it will be priceless to the descendants worldwide of the families listed in these records.”

The Brenner Collection was discovered in a Bavarian barn and includes data from approximately 97 parishes primarily within the vicinity of Ansbach, and also other places in Mittelfranken, Bavaria.

“I love that that these German records have found a home on our site,” said Paul Allen, CEO, FamilyLink.com, Inc. “This collection will be a highlight of the German records coming soon on our site, and will provide important links to information for those with German ancestry.”

Using the extracts found in the Brenner Collection is comparable to searching the original parish registers, with the exception that these records have been alphabetized and arranged in families by FamilySearch over a ten-year period.

“The Brenner Collection is a fabulous collection because you receive information on such a large section of the population. No other microfilm collection exists of this material,” said Warren Bittner, German collection management specialist for FamilySearch. “You would have to go from village to village to receive the same information that you can now find in one place.”

About FamilySearch
FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization that maintains the world’s largest repository of genealogical resources. Patrons may access resources online at FamilySearch.org or through the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, and over 4,500 family history centers in 70 countries. FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. and is registered in the United States of America and other countries.

About FamilyLink.com, Inc.
FamilyLink.com, Inc. is a family of services that includes WorldVitalRecords.com, FamilyLink.com, and the We’re Related application on Facebook. The focus of the company is to provide innovative tools to connect families.

About WorldVitalRecords.com
Founded in 2006 by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, WorldVitalRecords.com, Inc. provides affordable access to genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 600,000 monthly visitors. The site registers 9.4 million monthly pages views and has more than 30,000 subscribers. With thousands of databases-including birth, death, military, census, and parish records-WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to fill in missing information in your family tree. Some of its partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, Archive CD Books Australia, Gould Genealogy, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Genealogical Publishing Company, Find My Past, Godfrey Memorial Library, Find A Grave, and FamilySearch. Investors include vSpring Capital and several angel investors.

“We have been heavily involved in Irish genealogy, history, and heritage for the past ten years,” said Brian Donovan, CEO, Eneclann. “We are excited to continue to preserve the wealth of Ireland’s heritage and further our reach by partnering with FamilyLink.com, Inc.”

The 1851 Dublin City Census index was compiled by Dr. D.A. Chart in the early 20th century from the original census records, which were destroyed in the 1922 Public Record Office fire. Chart’s index contains the names and addresses of 60,000 heads of household from 21 civil parishes. The index also includes scanned images from the original 1847 Ordnance Survey Town Plans to help users identify specific addresses. Since the 10th Irish Census was destroyed, Chart’s 1851 Census of Ireland has emerged as a useful substitute.

The 1851 Dublin City Census is unique in that family members absent from the household on census night were also included. This information is particularly useful for genealogists trying to track approximate dates and routes of migration.

The Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858 contains the name of the persons leaving the wills, or being covered by a grant of probate or administration; the location where the document was proved; their addresses; and sometimes their occupations. The names of approximately half of the executors, along with their addresses are also included.

The Irish Wills Index is important because most of Ireland’s wills and other testamentary records were destroyed in 1922. The staff at the National Archives of Ireland have spent more than 80 years trying to recover from that loss by getting replacement copies of records. Approximately 90 percent of the index contains testamentary records such as wills, probate, and administrations, while 10 percent includes records such as marriage licenses and assorted genealogical abstracts.

“Since meeting Brian Donovan in 2006, we have been anticipating a close partnership with Eneclann. We met Brian again in late 2007 at the Eneclann offices in Dublin,” said Yvette Arts, Director, Content Acquisition, FamilyLink.com, Inc. “The quality of the Eneclann team was evident, and we are excited to work with such a great group of people committed to historical research and archive management.

About Eneclann
Eneclann is a Trinity College Dublin campus company providing a range of professional services in the historical, heritage, archive and records management sectors. Founded by history graduates Brian Donovan and Fiona Fitzsimons, Eneclann was accredited as a Trinity College campus company in 1998. Also in that year Eneclann won first prize in a campus company development award sponsored by UCD and the Dublin Business Innovation Centre. Starting from a core business of historical research consultancy, Eneclann now has three distinct areas of business operations: Historical Research – House Histories and Genealogical Research, E- Publishing & Digitization, and Records and Archive Management.

About FamilyLink.com, Inc.
FamilyLink.com, Inc. is a family of services that includes WorldVitalRecords.com, FamilyLink.com, and the We’re Related application on Facebook.com. The focus of the company is to provide innovative tools to connect families.

About WorldVitalRecords.com
Founded in 2006 by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, WorldVitalRecords.com, Inc. provides affordable access to genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 600,000 monthly visitors. The site registers 9.4 million monthly pages views and has more than 25,000 subscribers. With thousands of databases–including birth, death, military, census, and parish records–WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to fill in missing information in your family tree. Some of its partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, Archive CD Books Australia, Gould Genealogy, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Genealogical Publishing Company, Find My Past, Godfrey Memorial Library, Find A Grave, and FamilySearchâ„¢. Investors include vSpring Capital and several angel investors.

PROVO, UT, April 1, 2008–Paul Allen has been named to the vSpring Capital list of 100 business executives who are most likely to lead a successful venture-backed company in the next few years.Known as “Paul Allen the Lesser” in the Utah venture community to distinguish him from Microsoft co-founder and billionaire Paul Allen, Utah’s Paul Allen has built several companies that are recognizable to many Utahns: Infobases, Ancestry.com, MyFamily.com, 10x Marketing, FundingUniverse.com, and LDSAudio.com.Allen is currently CEO of FamilyLink.com, a genealogy and social networking company founded in 2006 that is already reaching millions of families with its online family tree tools and family history content.

The vSpring Capital Top 100 Venture Entrepreneurs, or v|100, was created in 2004 to recognize outstanding entrepreneurs who have ties to the state of Utah and who are most likely to lead a successful business venture within the next few years.

Recipients of the award are selected through a community-nominated and peer-selected process. Allen has received this recognition each of the past four years.

“Paul’s entrepreneurial contribution in Utah has been invaluable. Aside from the revenue growth and job creation of his companies, Paul has also been a key luminary in his industry and in entrepreneurship,” said Dennis Wood, Director of Human Capital. “We are greatly pleased to see Paul make this list.

“It’s the process that makes this recognition so meaningful. The awardees are first nominated by the community at large and then hand-picked by several hundred entrepreneur peers,” Wood said.

Since moving back from Silicon Valley in 2001, Allen has invested a good deal of time in networking with entrepreneurs and investors, teaching business classes at Utah Valley State College and Brigham Young University, writing a popular blog on internet marketing and entrepreneurship (www.paulallen.net), contributing articles for Connect Magazine and lecturing widely. Allen has also served as a judge for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year competition and for several business plan competitions.

“Since its founding, vSpring has funded dozens of Utah companies at various stages of development, and has promoted entrepreneurship and job growth by investing in the state,” Allen said. “I am honored to be named by vSpring as a recipient of this award.”

About vSpring
vSpring is a traditional early-stage venture capital firm with over $350 million of committed capital under management. Specifically, vSpring targets information technology and life sciences companies headquartered in the Intermountain West region. vSpring looks for companies with the potential to transform their markets and create lasting value. vSpring’s primary areas of focus include enterprise software, networking and communications, security software, Internet, mobile computing, drug discovery, drug delivery, diagnostics, and medical devices, all markets where the firm has deep experience.

About FamilyLink.com, Inc.
FamilyLink.com, Inc. is a family of services that includes WorldVitalRecords.com, FamilyLink.com, and the We’re Related application on Facebook. The focus of the company is to provide innovative tools to connect families.

About WorldVitalRecords.com
Founded in 2006 by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, WorldVitalRecords.com, Inc. provides affordable access to genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 600,000 monthly visitors. The site registers 9.4 million monthly pages views and has more than 25,000 subscribers. With thousands of databases–including birth, death, military, census, and parish records–WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to fill in missing information in your family tree. Some of its partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, Archive CD Books Australia, Gould Genealogy, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Genealogical Publishing Company, Find My Past, Godfrey Memorial Library, Find A Grave, and FamilySearchâ„¢. Investors include vSpring Capital and several angel investors.

PROVO, UT, March, 2008 —Find My Past, a family history and genealogy website based in London, England, containing over 550 million family history records recently announced its partnership with FamilyLink.com, Inc. to bring UK Censuses online at WorldVitalRecords.com (a service of FamilyLink.com, Inc.).

“I really admire what Paul is doing at WorldVitalRecords.com. We are excited to have our census records as part of the WorldVitalRecords.com’s subscription because it will make our census records more accessible to an American audience who probably wouldn’t think of using our company as the first place to look for these records,” said Elaine Collins, Commercial Director, Find My Past. “We are also excited for this partnership because WorldVitalRecords.com has a successful track record and will continue to succeed in the genealogical industry.”

The UK census records comprise WorldVitalRecords.com’s largest database in the World Collection. As part of this agreement, WorldVitalRecords has already added the 1861, 1881 and 1891 censuses to its collection. These records are the official civil registration records for England and Wales from 1837 to the present (2008). More census records will be periodically posted county by county throughout the year. These censuses include images, and also a key-word searchable index.

“Census data is the heart of genealogical research. We have been working for several months to provide this core collection to our extended network of family historians and genealogists. These records include millions of names; individuals who came before us and who have left legacies that can enrich our lives,” said Yvette Arts, Director, Content Acquisition, FamilyLink.com, Inc.

Census records are the number one resource for researching British ancestors. The census is used hand in hand with parish registers and shows families in groups, rather than single individuals. The census also gives ages, professions, birth places, and other useful information. These records, when completely posted by the end of the year, will comprise WorldVitalRecords.com’s first international census collection.

“We have worked with UK data archives–the academic offshoot of University of Essex–to enhance our data and to make sure it is the most accurate and searchable product that is available on the market. We are constantly improving it as well,” Collins said.

About Find My Past
Findmypast.com is a family history and genealogy website based in London, England, containing over 550 million family history records, with more being added all the time. Formerly named 1837online.com, we were the first to put the birth, marriage and death records of England and Wales online, for the purpose of allowing public access to the indexes, previously only available to search at certain locations in England. This achievement garnered the prestigious Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2007. Findmypast.com was acquired by Scotland Online in December 2007 as part of their vision to develop a world class family history resource.

About FamilyLink.com, Inc.
FamilyLink.com, Inc. is a family of services that includes WorldVitalRecords.com, FamilyLink.com, and the We’re Related application on Facebook. The focus of the company is to provide innovative tools to connect families.

About WorldVitalRecords.com
Founded in 2006 by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, WorldVitalRecords.com, Inc. provides affordable access to genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 600,000 monthly visitors. The site registers 9.4 million monthly pages views and has more than 25,000 subscribers. With thousands of databases–including birth, death, military, census, and parish records–WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to fill in missing information in your family tree. Some of its partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, Archive CD Books Australia, Gould Genealogy, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Genealogical Publishing Company, Find My Past, Godfrey Memorial Library, Find A Grave, and FamilySearchâ„¢. Investors include vSpring Capital and several angel investors.

PROVO, UT, March 11 2008 –After only 17 months since the company began, WorldVitalRecords.com (a service of FamilyLink.com, Inc.) now has 1 billion searchable names on its site.

“We have been looking forward to this day since we started WorldVitalRecords.com 17 months ago. It’s an important milestone to have passed the billion-name mark, and a real testament to the company’s hard work to have put this together, a collection of this size and importance,” said David Lifferth, President, FamilyLink.com, Inc.

“Thank you for adding all these wonderful resources. I have recently discovered that my husband has two Mayflower ancestors. You have provided so many resources for me. It could keep me busy for weeks,” said Julia Stuart, WorldVitalRecords.com subscriber.

WorldVitalRecords.com has a unique business model in which it partners with a variety of companies to obtain its data. Since its launch, WorldVitalRecords.com has made content agreements with more than 30 partners. They include Find My Past, Genealogical Publishing Company, Archive CD Books Australia, British Origins, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, Eneclann, Quintin Publications, Gould Genealogy, Familias Argentinas, Godfrey Memorial Library, NewspaperARCHIVE, Find A Grave, Allcensus, SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., the Moravian Heritage Society, and FamilySearchâ„¢.

WorldVitalRecords.com recently launched its flagship product, the World Collection, which includes significant collections from countries such as: England, Canada, Australia, France, Ireland, Scotland, and Hungary.

“We are so grateful for the many people who have partnered with us to help us meet our billion name milestone,” said Yvette Arts, Director, Content Acquisition, FamilyLink.com, Inc. “We have another billion records that we are processing right now, and we will work with more content providers to get to three billion names and beyond.”

About FamilyLink.com, Inc.
FamilyLink.com, Inc. is a family of services that includes WorldVitalRecords.com, FamilyLink.com, and We’re Related on Facebook. The focus of the company is to provide innovative tools to connect families.

About WorldVitalRecords.com
Founded in 2006, by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, WorldVitalRecords.com, Inc. provides affordable genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 600,000 monthly visitors, 9.4 million monthly pages views, and more than 25,000 subscribers. With thousands of databases including birth, death, military, census, and parish records, WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to extend your family tree. Some of its partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, Archive CD Books Australia, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Genealogical Publishing Company, Find My Past, Godfrey Memorial Library, Find A Grave, and FamilySearchâ„¢. Investors include vSpring Capital and several angel investors.

“We are looking to work with others who will provide the bridge from today back to the period where our books come into play. WorldVitalRecords.com’s services provide the link from 2008 back to our 17th Century material,” said Mike Tepper, Managing Editor, Genealogical Publishing Company. “There are companies that are really great with technology, but fall short with writing. Other companies are really skilled with words and writing, but not in creating virtual communities. It is a great opportunity to work with FamilyLink.com, a company that can provide that combination of technology and writing, as well as a virtual genealogy community.”

Genealogical Publishing Company is one of our key partners in our new World Collection,” said Yvette Arts, Director, Content Acquisition, FamilyLink.com, Inc. “We are happy to work with one of the oldest and most established publishers of genealogical records in the industry.”

Genealogical Publishing Company has 2,000 titles featuring content from early Colonial America to the Civil War. Some of these titles include Donald Lines Jacobus’ Families of Ancient New Haven, a three-volume work that covers every family in pre-Revolutionary New Haven, Connecticut, and Robert Barnes’s British Roots of Maryland Families, which establishes the origins of hundreds of pre-eighteenth-century Maryland families.

“The great thing about our books is that they are definitive works provided by the leading scholars of our time,” said Barry Chodak, President of Genealogical.com, Inc., parent of Genealogical Publishing Company.

“Our publications cover a wide range of topics with particular emphasis on colonial American immigration, royal ancestry, and county and local history. Our collection of guide books and how to books numbers more than 250, including the most widely used text Val Greenwood’s Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy and the three titles we call the Evidence Collection: Evidence, The Quick Sheet, and Evidence Explained, all by Elizabeth Shown Mills, the leading authority on the subject.”

“While many of our books contain genealogical source records, a considerable number contain lineage records and other linked material. These titles combined include about 15 million people. The descendants of these 15 million people number in the hundreds of millions today. Our partnership with FamilyLink will enable many, many Americans to go back and trace their family to some of these early immigrants,” Chodak said.

More than 600 databases from Genealogical Publishing Company will be launched periodically over the next few months at WorldVitalRecords.com.

“We have been publishing for the last 55 years and look forward to working with FamilyLink.com to expand our genealogical content into new territories,” Tepper said.

About Genealogical Publishing Company and Genealogical.com, Inc.
Through its well-known imprints, Genealogical Publishing Company and Clearfield Company, Genealogical.com publishes genealogy books and CDs. Whether you are just beginning to explore your family tree or are an experienced researcher looking for in-depth genealogy data, Genealogical.com can provide you with the resources you need. Genealogical.com has published over 2,000 titles featuring colonial genealogy, Irish genealogy, immigration, royal ancestry, family history, and genealogy methods and sources. Genealogical.com is also the online home of Gateway Press, its self-publishing arm which has published over 2,000 volumes of family histories for its author clients.

About FamilyLink.com, Inc.
FamilyLink.com, Inc. is a family of services that includes WorldVitalRecords.com, FamilyLink.com, and the We’re Related application on Facebook. The focus of the company is to provide innovative tools to connect families.

About WorldVitalRecords.com
Founded in 2006 by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, WorldVitalRecords.com, Inc. provides affordable access to genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 600,000 monthly visitors. The site registers 9.4 million monthly pages views and has more than 25,000 subscribers. With thousands of databases–including birth, death, military, census, and parish records–WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to fill in missing information in your family tree. Some of its partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, Archive CD Books Australia, Gould Genealogy, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Genealogical Publishing Company, Find My Past, Godfrey Memorial Library, Find A Grave, and FamilySearchâ„¢. Investors include vSpring Capital and several angel investors.

“We are delighted now to be part of WorldVitalRecords.com’s new international focus. The benefits we see are many,” said Alan Phillips, Managing Director, Archive CD Books Australia and Gould Genealogy. “For us, it is a great way to market our content online. For WorldVitalRecords.com, it is an opportunity to provide more significant Australian content than from any other single source. For Australian content owners, WorldVitalRecords.com is a great avenue to get their data online. For libraries, it brings joy to those who have no love of CDs. For â€˜Down Under’ researchers, it provides the best Australian and New Zealand content online. For end users overseas with Australian and New Zealand interests, at last they can have some great accessible content.”

1. directories
2. electoral rolls
3. government gazettes
4. police gazettes
5. war records
6. biographical volumes
7. general, church and regional histories and records
8. a starter selection for New Zealand
9. a few products on the Pacific Islands, Britain and Scotland

This initial data launch from Archive CD Books Australia will be followed during the year by data from Gould Genealogy, which will include birth, marriage, and death notices, shipping records, biographical databases, cemetery records, and obituaries.

“We are excited to partner with Archive CD Books Australia and Gould Genealogy. From our first conversation with Alan Phillips, we knew we found a great partner to collaborate with to develop a significant offering of Australian records,” said Yvette Arts, Director, Content Acquisition, FamilyLink.com, Inc.

The content databases provided by Archive CD Books Australia and Gould Genealogy comprise WorldVitalRecords.com’s first major collections from Australia.

“A WorldVitalRecords.com subscription is a superb value for researchers everywhere, not just to Australians and New Zealanders,” Phillips said. “I am confident that WorldVitalRecords.com can become the number one site for quality, high value Australian and New Zealand content online. I trust our contribution will be beneficial to all.”

AboutGould Genealogy
Gould Genealogy has been a genealogy reseller since 1976, with a current list of around 10,000 worldwide genealogy and related products. Gould Genealogy is also a publisher with publishing/marketing agreements with content owners and authors for print and CD publishing, and now online publishing with its new FamilyLink.com, Inc. partnership.

AboutArchive CD Books Australia
Archive CD Books Australia began in 2003, with a similar goal to all four international Archive CD Books partners – to scan and make available long out of print books, records and other resources for family and local historians – all fully searchable. Archive CD Books Australia currently has nearly 800 products, many of which have never been practically accessible to researchers before. Archive CD Books Australia has partnered with universities, libraries, archives, genealogical and historical societies, and specialist and private libraries throughout Australia. These collaborations have resulted in high-quality content for end users.

About FamilyLink.com, Inc.
FamilyLink.com, Inc. is a family of services that includes WorldVitalRecords.com, FamilyLink.com, and the We’re Related application on Facebook. The focus of the company is to provide innovative tools to connect families.

About WorldVitalRecords.com
Founded in 2006 by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, WorldVitalRecords.com, Inc. provides affordable access to genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 600,000 monthly visitors. The site registers 9.4 million monthly pages views and has more than 25,000 subscribers. With thousands of databases–including birth, death, military, census, and parish records–WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to fill in missing information in your family tree. Some of its partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, Archive CD Books Australia, Gould Genealogy, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Genealogical Publishing Company, Find My Past, Godfrey Memorial Library, Find A Grave, and FamilySearchâ„¢. Investors include vSpring Capital and several angel investors.

Wright brings genealogical expertise, understanding, and opens the doors to many contacts in the industry

PROVO, UT, February 21, 2008 --After eight years at Ancestry.com Matt Wright recently joined FamilyLink.com as director of editorial and print products, bringing with him a wealth of genealogical experience, expertise and connections in the industry.

“Matt Wright adds tremendous professionalism and genealogy publishing experience to our team,” said Paul Allen, CEO, FamilyLink.com, Inc. “We look forward to supporting him as he works with authors, societies, bloggers and publishers around the world. He will lift our efforts to help genealogists to a whole new level.”

As editorial director, Wright will focus on creating new and interesting genealogical products and instructional items for users of the company’s websites, and raising media editorial value.

“At FamilyLink.com, Inc., I’ll help to further refine the work that has already been done here by a tremendous team. And, there is a spectrum of new options that a genealogy company like FamilyLink.com can provide to its customers,” Wright said. We are in a position to offer a line of products and services that can really make a difference to anyone interested in finding ancestors. I’m excited to develop these products and create real value for our customers.”

Before coming to FamilyLink.com, Inc., Wright worked as the manager of book publishing at Ancestry.com. While there, he was responsible for new and reprint titles. In that role, he also served as a contributing editor for Ancestry Magazine and Genealogical Computing magazine. He also co-authored Finding Answers in U.S. Census Records with Loretto Szucs. While at Ancestry.com Wright had the opportunity to work with many authors, peer reviewers and advisors. Prior to leaving Ancestry, Wright worked as an associate product manager in the Commerce Department where he worked on the Ancestry Press Project.

Wright has worked in various roles throughout his career, although his primary training is in journalism. He has been the journal editor for the Association of Professional Genealogists since 2002. He has also worked as a managing editor of Utah Business Magazine, a monthly regional business magazine, for three years and recently started editing Crossroads, the journal of the Utah Genealogical Association.

“Having worked at a large, established genealogy company, I see there is a lot of room in the industry for new and different companies. Paul’s philosophy in content acquisition and creating value for our partners was a big draw for me. I am also really excited about the team that he has been put together,” Wright said. “While FamilyLink.com, Inc. has had a great beginning, I see it just growing and I plan to help in that growth.”

Wright lives in Provo with his wife and three young children. He enjoys sports, both watching and playing, and spending time with his family.

whitney@familylink.com
About FamilyLink.com, Inc.
FamilyLink.com, Inc. is a family of services that includes WorldVitalRecords.com, FamilyLink.com, and We’re Related on Facebook. The focus of the company is to provide innovative tools to connect families.

About WorldVitalRecords.com
Founded in 2006, by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, WorldVitalRecords.com, Inc. provides affordable genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 600,000 monthly visitors, 9.4 million monthly pages views, and more than 25,000 subscribers. With thousands of databases including birth, death, military, census, and parish records, WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to extend your family tree. Some of its partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, Archive CD Books Australia, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Genealogical Publishing Company, Find My Past, Godfrey Memorial Library, Find A Grave, and FamilySearchâ„¢. Investors include vSpring Capital and several angel investors.